Avatar

I finally watched Avatar. And since everyone has watched it already… twice even, I won’t get into too much detail. Due to scheduling issues, I wasn’t able to watch it in 3D and after watching, I was like what’s the big deal?!? It seems the big deal is the 3D and that’s about it.

The acting is so-so. The story is… well if you’ve read or seen Pocahontas then you know the story. Good but definitely not fresh. The action is probably good if you have been good if you enjoy military-industrial military going against stone age military. I don’t.

No surprise, in the end the stone age military won. Mainly due to the aid a whole bunch of animals some of whom are invulnerable to lead or even depleted uranium anti-armor shells. The last one wasn’t stated explicitly but you would expect mecha to be carrying those.

Overall, a reasonably enjoyable movie but not really great.

Rating: 3/5 (could have earned a extra point if I watched in 3D)

Just Cause 2 Demo Problem

So I just completed downloading the demo of Just Cause 2. I excitedly installed then started it. Directions said to press the Start button. I did and I got to another screen. Directions said to press O button. I did and… it didn’t work! I tried restarting the demo. Still didn’t work. I tried rebooting the PS3. Still didn’t work. I accidentally found the solution: Press O and X buttons at the same time. It worked! The same goes while inside the game, you need to press both together. What the heck?!? Definitely not a good sign for this title.

Installing A Window-Type Air Conditioner

Summer is upon us and during these hot sweltering nights, air conditioning, which didn’t seem to make sense before all so suddenly does. And of course there’s the baby to consider. If you’re confronted with an irritable baby in the wee hours of the morning, you’ll know what I mean. So we decided to get ourselves a window-type room air conditioner.

Unfortunately, the appliance store won’t install it so we decided to do it ourselves. The Carrier unit we got came with pretty good instructions but there are some things you need to figure out yourself so I thought I’d put them up here and add some helpful notes of my own.

1. Remove the front panel from the air conditioner.

2. Unscrew the locking screw. It is in the lower left or lower right side of the unit.

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Daybreakers

There’s a recent spate of vampire movies brought on by the Twilight series (yeech!). Of course, this is nothing new, there’s the Lost Boys, the Blade Series, the Underworld series, etc. But Daybreakers is a vampire movie with a twist: Instead of humans being the majority, vampires are. It does make sense when you think of it. After all, vampires are vastly superior to humans in a fight. And humans are a dwindling food resource hunted and, eventually, farmed. And so in this, alternate world, an intrepid group of human rebels work to freeing humanity and creating a cure for vampirism. Aside from this unique twise, there’s some action and a bit of human (vampire?) drama injected in.  The result is novel,  entertaining, and fun (in a gory kind of way, if you’re into that kind of thing).

Rating: 3/5

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham Asylum is the the said to be the best superhero computer game so far. And I can see why.  In the game, Batman must fight Joker and his henchmen who have taken over the Arkham Asylum. This is not an easy task since Batman is one of the few  superheroes who don’t have superpowers. Instead, he relies on wits, stealth, his excellent martial art skills. And of course, it wouldn’t be complete without the utility belt and its plethora of gadgets. There’s the ever-present Batarang, grappling-hook gun, explosive gel gun, Bat-Claw, Ultra Bat-Claw (3 Bat-Claws), and Zip-line Thrower. Using all these in combination is required for your to succeed in the game.

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